Jinn (The Immortalem Series Book 1)

by Jessica Cage

  “Exactly.” Praia finally sat down. With her news delivered, her mind could rest long enough to realize how tired she was. She hadn’t slept since Jinn left them.

  “We have to get to him before that happens.” Briar poured them both a glass of wine. “You did really good here.” She passed the glass to Praia who happily accepted it.

  “How? We have an army behind us here, but there, in Dragon territory?” She sipped the sweet dark liquid and sighed. “I don’t know about the fairy connections, but we fae have no friends there.”

  “We’re going to have to call in a favor.” Briar stood from the table, and exited the room.

  Gathering the books and calendar, Praia convinced her tired body to move and followed behind her. “Favor, from who?”

  Briar looked back over her shoulder with worried eyes. “An old friend.”

  “Wow.” Praia bowed to the queen as she entered the chamber room. It was the first time since becoming queen that Briar had dressed the part. She’d traded her standard black wardrobe for a gown that draped to the floor in various hues of orange and red that were compliments to the dark tones of her skin. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun and decorated with flowers and jewels. From her shoulders hung a sheer cape only slightly darker than the dress beneath it. Stitched in gold on the back was the Solaris stone.

  “I must look the part, right?’ Briar smiled despite how awkward she felt in her new attire.

  “Oh, you do. You’re beautiful.” Praia sighed, eyes glowing with admiration for the woman who stood in front of her.

  “Thank you, Praia.” She smiled. “And thank you for agreeing to be here with me today. I know it is not easy considering the dragons do not show favor to our kind.”

  “We’re in this together.” The short fae smiled. When Jinn left, she promised to stay and help Briar with whatever she needed. Praia wasn’t one to break a promise.

  The doors opened and Mysti approached. “My queen, your guest has arrived.”

  “See him in, please.” Briar gave the order and took a deep breath, one that helped to calm her nerves.

  “Briar! How nice to be summoned, and by the queen no less!” the bold voice of an old acquaintance rang out, echoing slightly against the high ceilings. The tall, slender man walked in draped in a black cloak which covered a suit tailored to perfection. She hadn’t seen Jax, the Prince of the Dragons, in decades. Behind him stood a stoic dragon who scoped the room, a security check to be sure the prince was not in danger. Outside in the hall, with the rest of the fairy guard, were three other dragons, and outside the building were twenty more. There was no trust, obviously.

  “Jax, thank you for coming,” Briar spoke with a wide grin. She was never one to fake a smile, but apparently it came with the territory. She couldn’t very well greet the man with a grimace and then ask him for a favor.

  “Hey, you and I go way back, of course.” He smiled and handed his escort the cloak. “Tell me, how can I be of service to you? I assume you called me here for more than to just show off your pretty new crown.” His eyes took her in, since he’d never seen her dolled up in such a way. “I like the makeover by the way.”

  “You’re right, I do have more important reasons for your being here, none of which include the updates to my attire.” She held back her own comments about the bright red he’d dyed his hair. The dragon must have been going through some sort of personal crisis to do something like that. “Our people are being threatened, and I need your assistance.”

  “Ah, so the rumors are true. Your queen suddenly gone, though I know you tried to hide the details. But, you know how tales tend to travel.” He paced the floor, knowing he had the upper hand. She needed something from him, which meant he could make a deal in his favor. “I’m guessing this is connected to the fae misfortunes as well, considering your current companion.” He looked over his shoulder at Praia who rolled her eyes.

  “Yes, that is true.”

  “So, fill me in.”

  “We have done our research. We know who poses a threat to our people, and we’re fairly sure what his plan is. We just need to find a way to stop him before he gets there.” He continued to pace the floor, but she had his attention, so she said, “His name is Daegal, a warlock with great power. We have sources that tell us he is in the Cascades.”

  “Sources lie,” Jax snapped back. “Are you accusing us of something?”

  “Jax—” she began.

  “Look, I know my land, and I know my people, there is no Daegal in Cascades.” His jaw tightened, and for a moment so quick she barely caught it, his eyes flashed red.

  “No, that is not what I’m doing. I would not have invited you here simply to accuse you of any wrong doing.” He settled back into his placid pacing. “Like I said, he is very powerful. Perhaps he used that power to find a way inside, without you knowing about it.” Briar considered the avenues the warlock would be willing to take, and she was unable to rule out anything. Including bribing a dragon, even if Jax thought it improbable. “Can you be sure that no dragon would have aided him?”

  “There is no one.” He spoke quickly and turned away from her.

  “You still have that tell, you know. It gives you away every time.” She eased in closer. Jax never played any games with Briar because she could always tell when he was bluffing. “You suspect something, or someone. Who is it?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jax casually increased the distance between them, pretending to be admiring the details in the decoration of the space.

  “Jax, come on, let’s drop the games, this is serious.” She could only coax him for so long. The queenly way was still new to her; the old Briar pushed to the surface.

  “Look, Bri, I really wish I could help you, but I can’t.” He was near the exit, ready to walk away from the entire mess. The dragons had no stake in the fairy problems and he wouldn’t be volunteering their sources on a hunch. There had to be more in it for him if he was going to convince his father to go along with what she wanted.

  “I’ll tell you where she is.” She’d hoped not to have to use her trump card, she’d hoped that he would be willing to help without a bribe. She knew it would never happen that way, but she still had hope. Very minute hope, but hope nonetheless.

  “Excuse me?” His leisurely progression toward the exit ended. He wanted her to make it worth his time, and she’d done just that.

  “I know you have been looking for her, all these years, wondering where she is. I know where she is.” It always came down to a girl, Briar knew that. Throughout the years she’d watch so many men risk everything for the love of a woman. Jinn was doing the same, and Jax was no different.

  “That’s a game you don’t want to play, Briar.” The flesh at his neck tensed and momentarily scaled over, but he was able to push the transition back. A shift in the middle of a fairy city, inside of the queen’s chamber, would be an act of war no matter what their relationship was in the past.

  “I’m not playing any games with you, Jax. Inda is alive and well. She will likely kill me for telling you, but at this point, I’m fresh out of options. I need your help, and if you want to see her again, well, you need mine.” Jax had to have a stake in the game. He was like all the other dragons—stubborn, hardheaded, and believed he was above the troubles of the world. Daegal would come for them next, without a doubt, but Jax wasn’t concerned with possible yet uncertain futures.

  “You have some guts, bringing me here to blackmail me.” He walked back over to her, heat raising from his skin. “If you were any other person, this would go a very different way.”

  “You knew what this was when you came, why else would I call you here?” Briar stood her ground, her own temper rising. She wished she’d opted for combat gear instead of the formal wear. If Jax wanted a fight, she would give him one. “You knew I needed help and you came ready for a bargain, to make a deal. Well, here is your offer. You help me get this bastard, and you get your girl back … that i
s if she will take you back.” Briar shrugged. “All I can do is get you in the same room.”

  Jax thought about the offer. He made a show of it by rubbing his chin and resuming his pacing, but Briar knew she had him where she wanted him. “I can grant you and your people safe passage, just let me know when you plan to come.” He would have to convince his father, but with recent changes, Jax was being given more responsibilities and more authority. There wouldn’t be much resistance. “I will return to the Cascades and do some digging. If I come across anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thank you.” She nodded in appreciation of his agreement to her terms and indicated for the aid to retrieve his coat.

  “What of my information?” He took the coat from the small fairy and turned a hard gaze on Briar.

  “I’m no fool, Jax. Keep up your end, and I will keep mine.”

  “You know, the queen thing fits you.” He smiled, knowing the statement was much more of a dig than he let on. Briar never wanted to be queen. She’d told him plenty times that it was not something she desired to ever have to deal with. Jax left the room wearing a wide grin and tossing his cloak to hang over his shoulder from two fingers.

  “Do you trust him?” Praia questioned when the doors closed, sealing the two inside the room alone again.

  “Yeah, we were friends at one point, before the wars turned our people into enemies. I swear,” Briar returned to the seat she’d avoided for so long, and slouched into it, “this was all supposed to be so much better than what we had before. Look at us, we’re horrible! Wars and killing, and people kept in cages. There are children out there living like animals, we are worse than the humans. We did all this claiming to have a better way, to be able to fix this world, and here it is worse than it ever was in the hands of the humans. We are a plague, all of us. Sometimes I really wish we had never been revealed. I wish that we had kept on living as we were. At least then, things made sense. Then, I could look out on the world and hope to be able to make a real change. Now? Now all I see is more pain, more hurt, more fear than I ever saw before.”

  “You can do something about it, you already are,” Praia stated softly. She realized Briar was in a bad way. With everything moving so quickly, the woman never had a chance to stop and mourn. She was second in command to the queen, they were best friends, and she was gone. To top that off, Briar was forced to be reminded of her every second of every day. Each meeting, briefing, and conference call she’d had to attend, called Alesea to mind.

  “Yeah, okay.” Briar sighed and dropped her head back to look up through the glass ceiling to the sun above.

  “You’re the queen now, and maybe you didn’t want that, but you are.” Praia moved to the base of the steps that led to the throne. “That means you have the power to make change. In a way, you’re already doing that. You’ve helped Mike and his people, which is a way toward peace, between the fairies and the slithers. You’ve just gotten Jax to help, which yeah, okay, was kind of blackmail, but it also means you have a way to connect with his people. And then there is me, fae, wandering the halls of your home freely and not one fairy here has ever made me feel like I’m not welcome to be here. That is because they are loyal to you. They trust your decision, your gut instinct about me and every other choice you’ve made. They will follow you toward the peace that you are hoping to achieve.” She sighed, hoping her words were getting through. “Many people dream to be able to change the world. They hope that in some small way, they can make an impact. You actually have the means to do it. You have a platform, a voice, use it the way you would have wanted Alesea, or any other queen before her to use it.”

  “You’re right. I have to do more, I have to make a change.” Briar sat up in the throne. “Thank you, Praia.”

  “Any time.” The fae smiled, happy that they were becoming friends.

  “What was that about?” Mysti entered the room, having escorted Jax and his men away from Vilar. Once out of the city, they took flight, back to the Cascades.

  “That was about Briar getting us the help we need to get into the Cascades. We have less than two days left before the eclipse,” Praia answered without thinking. She caught her mistake and apologized. Eventually she would get used to Briar’s status as queen.

  “I need you to get word to Mike and his people,” the queen instructed her second. “We need the strongest, we’re taking the fight to him.” Briar stood. “Praia, get the fae together, we need all the help we can get. We’ll have to use magic to transport us, there is no time for any other way.”

  Jinn left Vilar after speaking with Briar about what he’d learned from Nitara. Still keeping the secret of Degal's plan. If they hadn't figured it out by his return, he would tell them then. Realizing where they would be headed and just what they were up against, Jinn knew they would need a lot more help. Though his friends were few and far in between, there were still a few people in his debt. He left it that way, for a time such as this.

  Since the war, Earth had taken a turn for the better. If there was anything to be said for the transition of power, it was the rejuvenation of the earth. Places that had been all but wiped clean of their resources flourished again. The ozone was being repaired, in large amounts due to the fae and fairy magic. Which meant the world was able to cool down again with the discontinuation of human manufacturing. The polar ice caps were restored by the ice dragons who used the area for their mating season. Even if the inhabitants of earth hadn’t quite figured their shit out, the planet itself was prospering.

  Jinn stood on the snow-covered lands of Antarctica. He hadn’t been to the area in years and it took his breath away to see just how much the place had changed. It was majestic and terrifying all at the same time. Even with his power, the cold threatened him. If exposed too long to the elements, he would suffer just as anyone else. He pulled the parka he’d conjured around himself tighter. Another result of the restoration of the area, was that the animal life once again thrived. Polar bears had exploded in population, a reflection of the health returning to the oceans. He stood by, waiting for a mama bear to pass with her cubs. She looked him square in the eye, a challenge. She wouldn’t attack if he didn't. Out of respect he remained still until she and her tumbling cubs had gone.

  The entrance to the hideout was just up ahead. It was kept in the frozen lands, because much like the scorched lands, no one wanted to live there. Where no one wanted to go, a person looking to lay low would thrive. Of course he would need the help of an outlaw … who better to take down a warlock gone dark?

  He lifted his hand to the tall wall that appeared as a thick slab of ice, meant to deceive any unwanted visitors. The familiar signature of an old acquaintance. Blue light emanated from his hand, a key for a door only those like him could unlock, and the hidden passage opened to him, revealing a long hall and the sound of opera music. Jinn stepped inside and the exit sealed behind him, causing the music to echo around him.

  Cautiously he moved forward, walking down the hall to the source of the sound. The light just ahead—produced by carefully placed candles—glowed, giving some light to the hall; not a lot, but enough so that he wouldn't trip or need to conjure any of his own. He didn’t want to alert the resident of his arrival just yet. Better to scope the situation out, and make sure his old pal hadn’t gone insane after being in solitary for so long. If he determined the guy would be of no use, he could leave without incident. As he reached the end of the hall, he could see that his friend was in good mind and spirits. Jinn stood in the doorway, looking at the fool who danced in front of him with a person he knew didn’t really exist.

  “Well, I see you’ve got yourself a new girlfriend.” Jinn laughed and leaned on his shoulder against the frame of the door.

  The oversized man stumbled backwards, startled by his voice. “Shit, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” He waved his hand, and his curvy blonde dance partner faded into nothing, leaving trails of orange smoke behind. “Hell, you know I was always one for a good dance.”<
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  “You’re still the only person I know to dance to opera.” Jinn shook his head. “How the hell have you been, Bruto?”

  “As good as a djinn in hiding can be. Did you come here to tell me all my enemies have died, and I can go free?” Bruto, an oversized djinn with red hair and skin so pale he could be mistaken for a vampire, flashed a bright smile hopeful for good news.

  “No, I'm not here with news of the apocalypse.” Jinn chuckled and looked around the place. It had long since been transformed from the cavern of ice he’d left Bruto with. Of course, the djinn had all the magic in the world and could make the place into whatever he pleased. For Bruto, that meant making the space bigger. Tall ceilings with chandeliers all powered by candlelight, which seemed a bit risky considering the structure, but the flames weren’t real, they were conjured elements meant for show. Large canvases of classical art hung on display, covering nearly every wall. The walls themselves were solid, not ice, painted brown with false windows that gave display to images of the hills of Ireland. The floor was a beautiful hardwood that tied the space together. At the back of the room he could see two double doors. Bruto had done some expansion on the place.

  “Well, come on in, and tell me what brings you to the frozen tundra.” The djinn was welcoming, happy for a real person to converse with.

  Jinn walked farther into the room, noting all of the possessions the man had conjured for himself. He was living the good life, a free djinn, only not. Bruto had a lot of enemies, and though he was strong, he was no match for the entire collective of the witches of the Ashen. Convincing him to take part in the expedition was going to be a tough gig. Jinn had the upper hand, though. He’d saved Bruto’s life on more than one occasion, the last time being the most dire situation the man had ever been in.

  Bruto pulled out a seat at the large table that sat to the left side of the room, and indicated that Jinn should take the one across from him. As Jinn sat, two cups of coffee appeared. With the steam rising from the mug he could smell that there was much more than coffee.